Gifted and Talented - Our Work - South Norfolk SSP

Gifted and Talented

Competitive Edge

Competitive Edge is Norfolk County Council’s scheme catering for gifted and talented pupils in PE and sport, teachers, coaches and parents.  It is a talent development scheme, trying to ensure all young talented people are given the right opportunities to follow a progressive pathway in order to achieve their potential. 

A broad range of implementation strategies are being used by schools, through School Sport Partnerships (SSPs), to be innovative and flexible, improving their support to gifted and talented pupils. 

The Competitive Edge pathway is designed to change the current approaches to athlete development by creating a multi-skills landscape that promotes generic movement development in relation to children’s needs and link multi-skills to performance sport. Children are selected at Years 5 and 6 in relation to their physical and other multi-abilities. 

Pupils are identified as talented in multi-skills and progress onto multi-skill academies, which also act as a transition tool from KS2 to KS3. County and Regional multi-skill academies are then introduced to further enhance our talented performers.  This year’s County Academy takes place on Saturday 2nd May and the Regional Academy is on Friday 3rd July.  Both events are at the UEA Sportspark in Norwich, and will invite the top performing young people from Years 5 and 6 in the county’s SSPsThe SSP’s multi-skill academies link to Fundamental Athlete Support Training (FAST). 

A secondary talent support programme which ensures young people are aware of the components of successful performance.   

This educational program is delivered by experts in their selected areas and is an effective and vital element of the pathway, providing the necessary support for secondary school athletes to effectively engage in their chosen sports.  FAST tutors work with individuals in secondary schools whom have a talent within sport.Competitive Edge is furthered by Performance Enhancement Centers and linking Norfolk’s sporting stars to schools through Sports Ambassadors, a mentoring scheme providing positive role models for children to aspire to and be motivated by.It is hoped that the Competitive Edge pathway will help young people better identify physical abilities relevant to particular sports.

The Competitive Edge scheme is also responsible for training personnel from within the county to deliver multi-skill academies, FAST workshops and Junior Athlete Education workshops and mentoring, in order to develop a strong community of practice that is crucial in sustaining any talent development pathway.

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